Your White, My White
by Callisto-HK
Summary: When Harvey starts to behave strangely and Donna refuses to answer questions about it, Mike chooses another way to find out about Harvey's real problem and then decides to help the older man. The only thing is he wants to do it secretly and it's not as easy as it seems; plus, Harvey is just getting crankier and that only makes things worse and it might just ruin their friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first story in this fandom and although I've been following Suits since the very first day, and have always loved it, I've never tried to write fictions for it; the idea of this one wouldn't leave me alone, though; so, here you go. I'm not sure about writing for Suits yet, but I hope you like this one.**

*** This story contains no relationship of any sorts. Just friendship.**

*** It could be happening sometime after season 2, episode 10; but there's no major spoiler for any episodes or seasons.**

**When I started writing it, I thought it'd be a one-shot; but as words kept following each other, the story got longer and I finally decided to go for a multi-chapter story. It's still short; probably four chapters, at most, but it was too long for a one-shot.**

**Let me know what you think so I know how things are here. Thank. :)**

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><p>Marcus was sick; Marcus was sick and there wasn't a thing Harvey could do about it and it was driving him crazy.<p>

Apparently it'd been like that for close to a month and the idiot had just told him ten days ago; thank God he'd been able to make him come to New York, at least; or maybe it was because Marcus had realized he was doing worse than he'd initially thought.

He'd been going through hundreds of tests and they'd finally got the results back last week and the situation wasn't any better after 7 days; if anything, it was worse as Harvey was feeling totally helpless and really scared and generally angry with the whole world.

He was at the end of his patience and was snapping at anything that moved the wrong way or moved at all; thankfully both Donna and Jessica knew what was going on; OK, Jessica had pulled it out of him and Donna had her own ways to find out; but at least they both knew and were giving him the space he needed and were dealing with the fallout from his anger, their own ways.

There wasn't an associate who Harvey hadn't snapped at for one reason or another and even Louis had finally decided to stay away from Harvey for the time being; Jessica might've had something to do with it, but the point was that the Junior Partner had finally taken the hint and stayed away.

The only one who'd still come around was Mike, and well, it wasn't like he had a choice; the kid was Harvey's associate and with Harvey's head being somewhere else, there was even more work for Mike to do.

The young associate had been the target of many snapping, snarling and scolding from Harvey; but the smart boy he was, he'd quickly realized that Harvey wasn't really angry with him and something bigger was bothering him.

He'd tried to coax some information out of Donna; bribing her, promising to do things for her; but nothing had worked; when it came to Harvey, she wouldn't let anything slip. So, Mike took Harvey's anger and let it slide, hoping that whatever was causing the older man so much pain and anger would go away soon; because as much as he hated an angry Harvey and missed his friendly banter with him, he was more _concerned_ for the Senior Partner.

He'd even tried to talk to Harvey to see if there was any way he could help, but Harvey had scorned him, telling him that there was nothing a _nobody_ like Mike could do for someone like _Harvey Specter_; that if it weren't for him, Mike probably wouldn't even have a roof over his head anymore.

That had stung pretty badly and Mike had quietly stormed out of Harvey's office; seething and hurting; but he still hadn't said anything back.

Donna later scolded Harvey for the words he'd said to Mike, but Harvey brushed her off and ordered her to mind her own business. And if Donna didn't know how scared Harvey was for Marcus and how he always turned his fears into anger, she would've slapped him then and there.

She, instead, went to Mike to do some damage control; it was her job, after all, to make sure Harvey still had an associate and a job after things went back to normal. Besides, it wasn't the kid's fault Harvey didn't know how to deal with his feelings.

She bought Mike a coffee and told him that he shouldn't take Harvey's crankiness personally. Mike had once again asked her what was going on, but she told him to let it go and just give Harvey some time to get out of his funk.

But if Mike wasn't persistent, he wouldn't be working for the New York City's best law firm. So, he decided to try something else and that was to follow Harvey to see where he was going and what he was doing other than work.

And it turned out to be easier than he'd thought. That night, Harvey had gone straight to a hospital and didn't even notice Mike following him. Mike watched him enter a room and when he peeked inside he saw a young guy in a bed and noted that Harvey called him Marcus.

Marcus! Mike had heard that name before; that was Harvey's brother's name.

Damn, no wonder Harvey was acting like that; his brother was sick and by the look of it, it was bad.

Mike stood there and tried to hear what those two were talking about; at the end, the gist of what he'd heard was that Marcus, as a result of an acute kidney failure, was in an immediate need of a kidney and apparently Harvey hadn't been a match.

That was worse than he'd thought.

That night, he'd gone home and had been so busy thinking that he hadn't been able to sleep a wink. But at least, by the next morning, he'd come to the conclusion that he couldn't just let it go; he'd decided to go back to the hospital and ask for a series of tests, see if he could give one of his kidneys to Marcus.

He went to work, took more of Harvey's anger, this time not even feeling upset about it and just kept thinking about his options if he turned out to be a match.

After work, he pedaled straight to the hospital and charmed his way through nurses to the doctor who was attending to Marcus Specter.

Due to the Doctor-Patient Confidentiality, at first, the doctor wouldn't say a word to him, but when Mike told him that he was asking because he wanted to donate one of his own kidneys to the man, he'd been willing to listen.

Mike had asked him to keep things quiet, not wanting anyone to know about it and the doctor understood his request and agreed to run the tests and since Marcus was in a bad shape, they'd gotten to it right away. Mike had also told him that since Marcus was his boss' brother and he didn't want his boss and friend- _he'd added to make it sound less weird that he was willing to give a kidney to a stranger_- know about those tests and the possible donation, he couldn't leave work during the day, so they had to find a way to go through everything after working hours.

Typically, it took almost two weeks to be sure he could be a donor in that case; when he'd been informed that his first test results showed he could do it, he'd been both scared and glad; but he knew he could be Marcus' last chance, so he put a lid on his fears and went for further tests, which showed he could be a perfect donor. He was kinda surprised, because what were the chances of him being a match while Marcus' own brother hadn't been one? Well, apparently they weren't that slim.

When everything was certain and the doctor made him talk to a psychologist to make sure he knew what he was doing and he wasn't doing it out of some debt to his boss, he was given more information about the whole thing; about the procedure, the needed cares before and after the surgery and the possible risks of it.

Finally, three weeks after finding out about Harvey's brother, Mike was given a date for his surgery; the coming Monday. It gave him 6 days to prepare and the only thing he needed to do now was to ask for about two weeks off. He knew that the normal recovery time was 2-3 months, but he couldn't possibly ask for that long and he didn't want Harvey to know what was happening. He didn't want _anyone _to know about it. So, he'd decided to take one extra week of rest at home after getting discharged from the hospital and go back to work as soon as he was able to move around without raising any flags.

It took him two days to build up enough courage to walk into Harvey's office to ask for those days off. By then, Harvey had heard that they'd found a kidney for his brother and that the donor didn't want any recognition, so they couldn't reveal his identity. But Harvey didn't care; he was thankful, but he didn't care as long as his brother got that kidney.

"Umm, Harvey, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike asked tentatively, not sure what mood Harvey was in at that moment.

"You just did and your one second is up." Harvey said coldly without looking at Mike.

Rolling his eyes, Mike decided to just say what he needed to. "Look, I need some days off. Two weeks, at most. I need to take care of something."

"No." The older man was still going through the file in front of him, not even glancing up at Mike.

"What? You can't deny my request just like that. You don't even know why I need time off."

"I can and I just did. You're just an associate; you'll do as you're told to. You can take your time off when you're more than just that."

"Come on, Harvey. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't really need it. You know me."

"Exactly, I won't approve it because I know you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike asked indignantly.

"That, Mike," Harvey finally looked up with a cold glare. "Means I know everything about you and your life. There's nothing you'd need time off for. You don't have anyone, so it can't be a family issue and you don't have any friends and even if you did, it wouldn't have mattered. The answer is no."

Mike was taken aback by the aloofness and the hurtful words; was it really necessary to remind him that he didn't have a single person in this world to care about him? That he was all on his own? Pushing down his hurt feeling, he tried once again. "Nevertheless, I need some days off."

"What part of 'NO' don't you get?" Harvey finally shouted. "The answer is no and it'll remain the same no matter how many times you ask. If you want time off so bad, then leave your badge behind and get the hell out of here. You won't have a job to come back to when you're done slacking off. Now get the hell out of my office and try to do something useful for a change."

Mike was frozen in his place for a second but he finally realized that there was no point in insisting when Harvey was like that. So he quietly walked out, mind busy with his dilemma; well, his dilemma _and_ Harvey's cold words.

"Mike. I'm talking to you." Donna's voice stopped him down the hall.

"Huh?"

"I said why do you need time off?"

For a second there, he actually wanted to tell Donna everything, but then he decided against it, knowing that she always told Harvey everything. "Doesn't matter." He said and walked off.

A few hours later, Mike decided to try Jessica instead; so he walked to her office and knocked.

"Mr. Ross, what do you need?" Straight to the point, typical Jessica Pearson.

"I, umm. I need a few days off."

Jessica just raised her eyebrows and didn't say anything. So Mike continued. "Two weeks, at most. Please, it's really important or I wouldn't have asked at all."

"Two weeks is more than just a few days, Mike."

Biting his lower lip, Mike made up his mind. Nodding his head, he said. "One week, then. Please. I need it and I don't want to be paid for those days. I just really need to take some days off. From upcoming Monday. I'll be back the week after that."

Jessica stared at him with no words, enjoying the fact that the younger man looked so uncomfortable. "No." She finally said.

Mike's shoulder slumped. "I-"

"I said, No. Is there anything else?"

"I'm well within my rights when I ask for a few days off." Mike decided to go for it another way. "You cannot deny me that. It's against rules."

"As it is to hire a fraud." Jessica reminded him coolly.

Mike closed his eyes and let her words sink. Apparently that was it; if he wanted to help Harvey, he had to kiss his job goodbye; or he had to forget about Harvey and Marcus.

Well, there was a third option. He could come clean.

Opening his eyes, he walked to the door to Jessica's office and Jessica smirked when she saw the back of the young man. The smirk was soon replaced by a look of surprise on her face when instead of leaving the office Mike closed the door and walked back. Something about him had changed in those few seconds and that was enough for Jessica to remain quiet and let him explain what he was still doing in her office.

"I know about Harvey's brother." Mike jumped to the point; not for a second doubting that Jessica knew the whole story, too.

Jessica's eyebrows rose at that and she sat there, studying the young associate before her with surprise and amazement, wondering where he was going with that statement. But she was a smart woman; so, soon, she connected the dots. "I see." She nodded her head and the cold expression on her face gave its place to a warm one. "So _you _are the mysterious donor. Do I even wanna know the details?"

"No." Mike said curtly. "And I don't want Harvey to know about this. I don't want _anyone_ to know."

And surprisingly, Jessica didn't question that decision. She just nodded her head with a look of understanding in her eyes. "You sure about it?"

"I've had weeks to think about it. Yes, I'm sure."

"Your request is approved."

"Thank you." Mike finally heaved a sigh of relief.

"Two weeks. I can't give you more or Harvey would get suspicious." Jessica point out.

"I understand. Two weeks is perfect. Thank you."

Jessica nodded her head and watched as Mike walked to the door, before he could leave, she called out, "You're a good man, Mr. Ross."

Mike paused in his track, looked back and nodded his head with appreciation and then walked away.

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**... TBC ...**

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><p><strong><em>AN: I'd love to know what you think. :)_**

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**All mistakes are mine.**


	2. Chapter 2

The surgery went as well as they'd hoped. They removed Mike's kidney through an open incision surgery on Monday morning and the whole operation lasted three hours, give or take a few minutes.

There weren't any complications, except the fact that Mike's blood pressure was a bit low after the surgery and remained that way for almost four days.

Mike's first question after waking up from the anesthesia had been about Marcus; they'd assure him that the surgery had gone well and they were hopeful that Marcus Specter would make a full recovery.

The pain was worse than Mike had prepared himself for; not that he had any idea how it really would be; and it lasted longer than he'd been told; but he kept telling himself that it was worth it.

Finally after six days at the hospital, he was released. They'd kept him there two extra days because he had no one at home to help him with things.

When he got home, he just collapsed on his bed _-or well, he gingerly lowered himself down to it and then passed out,-_ and slept for 7 hours straight, until the pain woke up him and he had to move to take his next dosage of painkiller; _that_ turned out to be way harder than it seemed, especially since he'd left his bag and his meds by the fridge.

He was in so much pain that he couldn't walk or even stand on his feet without aid; he had to lean on the wall for support and move while doubled over with pain; it took him ages to get from his bed to the fridge by the opposite wall and when he finally took his pills, he just slipped down the wall and curled up on the floor, biting his fist to keep himself from making a sound. He didn't know how long it took him, but he finally fell into a fitful sleep and remained there for another three hours.

The next time he woke up, it was because he needed to use the bathroom, but the pain wasn't bad, so he happily took care of his business and then took a quick shower to get rid of the hospital's smell.

Once out, he, first, put the bottle of his prescribed painkillers near his bed with a bottle of water and then prepared something quick to eat; thankful that he'd thought ahead and gotten everything he'd need, before the surgery.

That was his lifestyle for the next four days.

By day ten, he was able to move around more easily and the pain was finally bearable even when he forgot to take his pills and in order to stay awake and do the needed walking, he took less and less of his pills which also helped with the nausea and the shortness of breath that the pills were causing and he was only too happy to stop taking those meds if that meant he wouldn't be feeling sick and breathless all the time.

Finally, two weeks after his surgery and after another check-up at the hospital and being reassured that Marcus was actually doing very well, too; he went back to the firm.

He was still very weak and tired and walking wasn't the easiest thing to do. He still needed his pills and the discomfort he'd been feeling for the last few days had yet to go away; but he had to go back to work and just hoped that now that Harvey had found some peace of mind, he wouldn't mind the fact that Mike had been gone for two weeks.

He was sorely mistaken.

Not only had Harvey not forgotten about the fact that he'd refused his request; he was so mad at him that he instantly ordered him out of his office when Mike walked in. He didn't even notice how pale Mike looked and how stiffly he was walking.

"Harvey; please. I know you're angry; but I can explain."

"You can explain?" Harvey roared. "Don't you get tired of using that phrase? You keep screwing up and keep begging me to let you _explain_. Well, guess what; I'm fed up with your half-assed excuses. Get the hell out of my office. I told you before that if you left, you'd better stay gone."

"I'm sorry, alright? But I had no choice." Mike tried to make amends, but deep down he felt it was to no avail.

"You know how much I hate betrayals, Mike. And you keep going behind my back to do things _your way._ I'm not your grandmother, boy; I won't just sit aside and let you get away with everything you wish to do."

Mike blanched even more; both for being called a traitor and for being reminded of his grandmother in that way.

"I'm done dealing with you and your shits. Get the hell out of my office and go back to wherever you were these last two weeks."

Mike was stunned; he had no idea why Harvey was so angry. It wasn't like he had done anything wrong; he'd just taken some days off. What was so bad about it?

Cautiously, he approached Harvey, who had his back to him. Reaching out, he tried to turn the older man around, but either Harvey's anger was fueling his strength or Mike was way weaker than he'd thought; because Harvey shrugged off and pushed him away and the next thing Mike knew he was on the ground, with his back against the coffee table.

On the outside, it looked like he'd just lost his footing; but the truth was he was in excruciating pain from where his back had hit the coffee table. He was pale and had a thick sheen of sweat covering his forehead.

With tremendous effort and difficulty he pushed himself off the floor and limped out of the senior partner's office, without another word or glance.

He didn't stop outside to see the worried look on Donna's face and didn't see the regret in Harvey's eyes, as the man watched with remorse as his associate walked away painfully.

The older lawyer was already regretting his words and action, but more than anything, he was ashamed of pushing Mike away like that. He really hadn't realized he'd pushed that hard, but by the look of pain on Mike's face, and the way the younger man had ended up on the ground, he must've pushed pretty hard.

Sighing, he sat on the couch and cursed himself under his breath. He didn't know what the hell had gotten into him to make him treat his young friend like that. Mike had just gotten a few days off; true, he'd done so against his words; but maybe he really had some good reasons for it; why had he been so hard on the kid? It scared him how he seemed unable of controlling his anger; he was afraid the worry and concern for Marcus would never leave him and he'd stay this grumpy and cranky for good.

Looking up, he expected a tongue-lashing from Donna or angry glare at the very least, but when he didn't even get a shake of head with disapproval, he knew he'd screwed up way worse than he thought.

.

Mike, after taking a few minutes in the bathroom to get himself together and to overcome the pain, _with the help of the painkillers in his pocket_, walked towards Jessica's room.

He had two options in front of him, he could resign and leave, or he could let her know that, for the moment, he was free for whatever work any other partner in the firm had for him; at least, until Harvey'd, somehow, snap out of his funk. Although, to be totally honest, Mike wasn't sure he really wanted to work with or for Harvey, either; not for a while, at least. The other man had been nothing but hurtful these past few weeks and although he could understand the older man's fears for his brother, he couldn't let it slide any longer. Marcus was out of the woods now and Harvey had no reason to keep being a prick, and besides, Mike knew better than anyone about the kind of pain Harvey was dealing with; he'd dealt with much worse; he didn't think it gave him the permission to be such an ass.

Enough was enough; he'd given the senior partner more than one free pass; he'd taken everything in stride and hadn't said a word; he'd let Harvey insult him, yell at him for no reason and humiliate him over and over again and hadn't said a word.

But he was sick and tired of it, now.

Maybe it was the pain in his side; maybe it was the general fatigue and weakness he still hadn't overcome after the surgery, but for now, he, too, felt that he was done with Harvey Specter.

His meeting with Jessica didn't last long; the managing partner was in the middle of something, so she just gave him a sympathetic look and sent him to his desk, telling him that she'd send one of the partners to give him some work.

By the end of the day, Mike was feeling shitty. The pain in his side wouldn't subside even with the painkillers and he was feeling cold no matter how much hot coffee he took. He was sweaty and more than just tired and if his brain was functioning right, he would've realized that none of those symptoms were something to be taken lightly after a serious injury like the one he'd had.

But his brain was as tired as the rest of his body; he was barely seeing the words on the papers that were sprawled before him on the ground of the file room and he hadn't even noticed how bad his hands were shaking.

So, since he had missed all those other signs, he missed everything else, as well, and when he pushed himself off the ground to go get another coffee, the dizziness took him by surprise; but before he'd even lose his balance because of it, he was unconscious and then he hit the ground; hard and gracelessly.

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**... TBC ...**

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><p><strong><em>AN: Let me know what you think. :)_**

**_Thank you so much for your reviews, PMs, alerts and faves. I'm glad you liked the first chapter and thanks for your kind words and for welcoming me into this fandom. :)_**

**_Hey, Samantha, hope this was as satisfying as complications during the surgery! :D_**

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**All mistakes are mine.**

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	3. Chapter 3

_By the end of the day, Mike was feeling shitty. The pain in his side wouldn't subside even with the painkillers and he was feeling cold no matter how much hot coffee he took. He was sweaty and more than just tired and if his brain was functioning right, he would've realized that none of those symptoms were something to be taken lightly after a serious injury like the one he'd had._

_But his brain was as tired as the rest of his body; he was barely seeing the words on the papers that were sprawled before him on the ground of the file room and he hadn't even noticed how bad his hands were shaking._

_So, since he had missed all those other signs, he missed everything else, as well, and when he pushed himself off the ground to go get another coffee, the dizziness took him by surprise; but before he'd even lose his balance because of it, he was unconscious and then he hit the ground; hard and gracelessly._

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><p>The worst part was that Mike was in the file room when he passed out and it was already past 8 in the afternoon; not many people had a reason to go to the file room at that hour; so it was hours before someone found him on that floor; cold; with a greyish skin and covered in sweat.<p>

The person who found him happened to be Donna.

She'd been worried about the kid the whole day and by the end of the day, she walked to his desk to see how he was doing. But when she didn't find him there, she sighed in defeat and walked to the elevator to leave for the night.

She was getting inside the elevator car when her mind registered the state of Mike's desk. His messenger bag was still there and the papers were all over his desk, which meant Mike was still in the building; that made her walk back and look for him; she'd almost given up when she remembered that she should check the file room, too, before going home.

And that was how she found the unconscious man; and if she were anyone else, she would've screamed her head off, thinking that she'd just found a dead body.

But being Donna, she quickly ran to the fallen form of the boy she'd come to think of as a good friend and checked for a pulse. It was erratic and all over the place and the coldness of Mike's skin scared her more than even his unresponsive form. The kid had clearly gone into shock and for the life of her, she couldn't guess why.

She suddenly remembered the two weeks that he'd gone AWOL, well, not AWOL since apparently Jessica knew about it, but _gone_ _away_ anyway and she feared that Mike had been sick and had hidden it from them. Could that be it? Could it be the reason the kid needed some days off so bad?

O God, what was wrong with their puppy?

What if he didn't survive?

Those thoughts were running through her head as she called 911 and explained the situation. She next called Harvey and Jessica, telling them that she'd found Mike on the floor in the file room and that she was unable to wake him up.

Harvey and Jessica arrived at the same time, both looking worried and shocked.

"What the hell happened here?" Jessica demanded an answer.

"I don't know; I was looking for him and found him like this."

"Why were you even looking for him?" Harvey asked, not realizing how his question sounded to the others.

Donna threw him a dirty look. "Seriously? After what you did to him today morning? Well, I don't know, maybe I wanted to make sure he was alright after you hit him."

"You hit him?"

"I didn't _hit_ him."

Harvey and Jessica yelled at the same time; Jessica in shock and Harvey in protest to what Donna had said.

Closing his mouth quickly, Harvey looked away.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Harvey?" Jessica spat angrily. "I've let you get away with everything these past few weeks, but this is too much, even for you. You _hit him_? And seriously? Mike of _every_body? I don't know what to say." She sounded genuinely disappointed and pissed.

"I didn't _hit_ him, Jessica." Harvey forced through clenched teeth. "I just pushed him away. And I didn't even push hard; not my fault he's so weak." He said the last word with something akin to disgust; leaving both Donna and Jessica startled and angrier than they already were.

"Wow, you really don't care about him, do you? And here I thought you've changed. Was it all a facade? Did you just threaten to quit if I fired him because you were desperate to use him for his brain?" Jessica's tone was hard and cold. "You don't even know why the kid needed those days and you act like he's sold information about your private life and your cases to another firm."

"He told you why he needed the vacation?" Donna jumped in, remembering her previous concern over the kid's health.

Before Jessica could answer, the night guard entered the room, showing the way to the medics.

"What do we have here?" One of paramedics asked.

"I don't know. I found him like this about 20 minutes ago." Donna answered, thinking that between everyone in that room, she knew the most about Mike's condition.

The paramedics started to examine Mike's pupils and pulse and one of them pulled his shirt open. "And he's been unresponsive the whole time?"

"Yes, nothing I did would help. What's wrong with him?"

Jessica and Harvey were standing back, watching the medics work on Mike.

Jessica kept quiet because she knew that, soon, they'd all find out about Mike's surgery and Harvey was quiet because he was shocked and ashamed of his behavior; trying to figure out whether he'd been the reason behind Mike's current situation and whether he'd actually hit Mike when he thought he'd just pushed him away. Had he really been that out of it?

"What's this?" The Medic's question and Donna's gasp brought Harvey's mind back to present and seeing the closed incision on Mike's side made him take a step back. He'd seen a huge scar just like that on his brother's body and Marcus had just had a renal surgery. Why did _Mike_ have one like that there?

Jessica answered his and the medic's question. "Two weeks ago he had a surgery. He donated one of his kidneys." She said the last part with a pointed look at Harvey.

Harvey felt like he'd been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer; his heart suddenly sank and he had to lean against one of the shelves to keep upright.

Donna wasn't looking any better, but at least she was just shocked, not guilty and remorseful.

Harvey felt lightheaded. Had really Mike done that? Why? Why had the kid felt the need to give one of his kidneys to _his_ brother? How had he even found out about Marcus? And why hadn't he said anything about it? Had he known about Mike's decision, he wouldn't have let the kid do that. Or maybe he would, because Marcus really needed that Kidney, but he would've made sure that Mike received the best care possible, as well and he would've properly shown the younger man how grateful he really was.

"_Two_ weeks ago?" Both medics looked up at Jessica with shock. "Then what is he doing back at work? He needs at least 6 weeks of home rest and then back to just a few hours of light work for some more weeks."

"He insisted on coming back early." Jessica said, not mentioning that she hadn't offered the young associate any more time off; she didn't want to put the firm or her position in jeopardy.

"He's gone into shock and shows signs of internal bleeding. We should take him to the hospital now. Inform his family." They'd loaded Mike on a gurney by then and were ready to leave.

"He doesn't have anyone." Donna said quietly.

"I'm his next of kin. I'll be right behind you and sign any papers you need." Harvey'd finally found his voice and was trying hard not to show how shaken up he was.

"Good. Hurry up, then." With that the medics left with Mike, leaving behind a shell-shocked Donna, a crestfallen Harvey and a disappointed Jessica.

"Why didn't he say anything to me? Why didn't _you_ say anything?" Harvey asked Jessica with so much sadness in his voice that she had to _think_ to remember the last time that she'd heard him sound like that.

"He probably didn't want you to feel you'd owe him for this and I understood. He made me promise not to say a word." Jessica answered truthfully. "Get to the hospital; if you're his next of kin, then they might need your signature for giving him further treatment."

Harvey had so many things and questions going through his head, but he knew Jessica was right; so, without another word, he left the room with heavy steps.

"Call me with updates." Jessica called after him and since Harvey didn't say anything back, Donna nodded her head and rushed after Harvey. She needed to be in the hospital to know Mike was going to be alright, so she could hit him and tell him that he didn't hide things like that from her. She could understand why Mike hadn't said a thing to Harvey, but she believed that he should've come to her. She would've made sure he was alright and didn't have any problem after the surgery.

That thought caused her actual pain, remembering that the kid had been all alone this whole time. Before the surgery. After the surgery; at home. Alone, all the time; putting himself through so much pain and not saying a word just for Harvey's sake.

She definitely needed to have a talk with him when he was up to it; that kid was too nice for this world and it was dangerous.

"And you rubbed it in his face that he has no one in this world." She hadn't realized that she'd said those words aloud until Harvey's head jerked back towards her.

Well, now that it was out, there was no point in keeping her comments to herself. "You told him that he has no one; that he's all alone and just think about it; it's true. Which means that the whole time after the surgery he'd been alone; with no one there to help him with things or to make sure he was not dead; to give him his painkillers and make him soup. He'd been all alone, taking care of himself; going through so much pain and you've been on his case and insulting him for how long? Gosh, Harvey, at this moment, I really don't think you deserve his loyalty and devotion."

She went quiet after that; wishing _she_ had been more persistent and had found out what Mike had been hiding this whole time. She could've helped him. Why didn't he think he could come to her? Did he think that she wouldn't keep his secret? Or was it because he didn't feel comfortable enough with her? Did he think she wouldn't want to help? Did he believe her when she said she wouldn't want to be bothered by his problems?

O God, she needed to change a few things; after a constructive talk about his too big and soft heart, which admittedly had helped them a lot and had currently saved Marcus' life, she needed to talk to him about trust and friendship. That probably was going to be a harder thing to talk about; they didn't have many reasons to convince Mike he could trust them with everything or that he could count on them in time of real need.

Maybe before this whole thing, it would've been easier; Harvey had saved the kid's ass more than once and had helped him a lot; but the past few weeks Harvey had been anything but approachable and if Donna didn't know better, she would've thought Jessica had been right about why Harvey'd fought so hard for Mike.

God, she needed to have a talk with Harvey, too; or maybe she needed to stand up to him more often. Maybe if she hadn't backed down the few times that she'd confronted him about his behavior towards Mike, he wouldn't have become so cruel towards the younger man.

Well, seemed like they all had their regrets.

Some more than the others.

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**... TBC ...**

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><p><strong><em>AN: Share your thoughts with me?  
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**All mistakes are mine.**

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	4. Chapter 4

_Well, seemed like they all had their regrets._

_Some more than the others._

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><p>Harvey for his part was the most regretful of them all; he was feeling like such an ass that he even forgot that he needed to get home to see how his brother was doing. After all, at that moment, another little brother needed him; one to whom he'd been extra hurtful.<p>

He owed Mike a lot; way more than a simple apology and not just because the kid had given his brother a new chance at life. Yes, he owed the kid a huge apology for being a bastard to him when the whole time he hadn't even deserved it; but it really didn't matter that he'd been the one giving Marcus his kidney; Harvey had a lot to make up to Mike for, anyway and he just hoped he hadn't lost his chance and he hoped Mike would forgive him for the things he'd said and done.

He still couldn't get it, though; Mike had never seen Marcus; he hadn't even told the younger man much about his brother. So, how had Mike found out about his illness and why had he given up on one of his vital organs to save a total stranger's life? Well, of course he'd done it for _Harvey_; and what had Harvey done? He'd been the biggest bastard in the history of New York City. And he hadn't been that way just when he was worried for Marcus; he'd been hurtful and nasty even when he'd heard Marcus would be alright; before and after surgery and he couldn't find an excuse that wouldn't sound lame even to his own ears.

What could he say to Mike? To the man who'd save his brother's life and hadn't asked for anything in return and hadn't uttered a word about it.

He hadn't even once talked back, no matter how nasty Harvey's comments got. Not even when Harvey practically insulted his grandmother. Damn, he was super ashamed for that one. And Donna was right, too; he'd told the kid he had no one and had rubbed it in his face and _damn damn damn_, Mike had been all alone and he still gave up on his health and everything to help _him._ Mike had gone through everything, _alone_ and that morning he'd yelled at him and called him a traitor. What did that make _him_?

Hadn't he also told Mike to go back to wherever he'd been the last two weeks? Man, Karma _was_ a bitch; now, Mike was actually back where he'd been and... _Shit_, Harvey suddenly remembered something else...

And apparently Donna's train of thought had reached the same point, because she suddenly blurted out, "O my God. You _pushed_ him. He just had a surgery, that's why he was so weak and fell to the ground. You pushed him and he hit his back. Oh shit, Harvey. That's why he has internal bleeding." Her eyes filled with tears; she wasn't trying to accuse Harvey or anything; she was just stating the fact.

Harvey, who was now with Donna at the hospital's entrance, couldn't take it anymore and before he knew it, his fist went towards the brick wall and hit it hard; once, twice and then Donna was there, stopping him.

"Enough. You think hurting yourself will help Mike? Snap out of it." An angry Donna said, with tears shinning in the corner of her eyes, pulling him towards the door.

Harvey was dazed; he couldn't even feel the pain in his hand, because the pain in his heart was way stronger. He couldn't believe the sort of pain he'd deliberately caused the kid he'd begun to love like his own brother. He'd caused him emotional _and_ physical pain and hadn't even felt ashamed at the time.

Donna was right; right then, he really didn't deserve Mike's devotion; but for the moment, he needed to make sure Mike would be alright physically; and then he'd work on the emotional part. He'd grovel for the rest of his life if he had to, to get Mike's absolution. He owed him that much and then he owed him more because Mike had practically given his brother a new life.

How could he ever repay Mike? Yes, he knew Mike wouldn't want anything back and that, practically, had been the reason why he hadn't said a word, thus, their current predicament; but Harvey couldn't just pretend it hadn't happened, and he could never forgive himself for putting Mike back in the hospital.

Right when he thought he was finally free from hospital visits, he was back in them; this time having no one but himself to blame for it.

"Mr. Spector?" Harvey turned around at the familiar voice, seeing Marcus' doctor walking towards him and Donna; they'd asked to see Mike's doctor just a couple of minutes earlier.

"So I see you've finally found out about what your associate did for you. I gotta admit, I'm surprised; that young man did everything possible to make sure you wouldn't find out. He went through all the necessary tests and sessions at night so he wouldn't miss work." The doctor didn't know how his every word was like a punch in Harvey's gut.

Harvey was feeling sick in the stomach; Mike had done that and he'd yelled at him for missing just two weeks of work and even _that_ hadn't been for personal reasons and two weeks were nowhere near what his body really needed after a surgery like that.

"How's he?" He asked the doctor, hoarsely.

"You're his next of kin, right? I need you to sign his papers. I'm afraid we have to take him back to the OR. He's bleeding internally and is showing signs of infection. He's gone into shock. Let's pray it's not too late to save him. He's one exceptional young man."

"You have no idea." Harvey said with a hint of shame and sadness in his voice.

Donna was suddenly in front of him with forms to sign; Harvey reached out to grab the pen, silently thanking God for the redhead.

The moment the doctor's eyes landed on Harvey's broken fingers his eyes widened. "Who won?"

"What?"

"Who won that fight? You or the wall?" The older man could imagine what had happened.

"Oh. It's nothing." Harvey looked at his bruised and bloodied knuckles.

"I'm afraid you're wrong. I'll tell a nurse to have one of the ER doctors take care of that hand for you; it'll keep your mind busy while we work on Mike."

"I'll make sure he behaves." Donna vowed.

"I'll hold you to it."

"And _you_ make sure Mike will survive." Donna demanded in return.

"We'll do our best." The doctor promised before leaving the pair alone.

...

The surgery took about two hours, but it was successful. They managed to stop the bleeding and gave Mike blood to replace the lost amount and started to closely monitor his lungs, heart and remaining kidney; saying that in his weak condition, infection could spread faster in his body and if it hit his kidney, there'd be no way to save it since he only had one, now.

That had only added to Harvey's guilt, of course; he was pretty sure if one could die of guilt, he would've died about, at least, 20 times, just that day.

And then there was the fact that the blood loss and shock was affecting Mike's heart. They were lucky that Donna had found him when she had; had Mike entered the fourth stage of shock, there would've been no coming back for him. Even now, with the amount of pressure on his heart and remaining kidney, they were worried he wouldn't make it.

But from then on, they just had to wait and see.

Eventually, Donna forced Harvey to go home when Marcus called her, worried that something had happened to his brother that he hadn't gone back home.

Harvey wasn't sure whether he should tell his brother about Mike or not; but decided not to do so, since he didn't want Marcus to feel guilty, too. After all, Mike was now in the hospital, fighting for his life and in danger of renal failure, merely weeks after giving one of his kidneys to Harvey's younger brother; Marcus would probably feel terrible over the whole thing and would blame himself; whereas the blames was solely on Harvey.

So Harvey kept quiet about Mike with Marcus and even during his check-up visit at the hospital, they kept the whole thing hidden from him.

It was three days later when the doctor announced that Mike was finally out of the woods; his kidney was functioning well and his heart was beating stronger each day.

The only problem was the mild case of pneumonia that had set in due to Mike being unable to cough or move around and since he was starting to wake up after the doctor lessened the dosage of his sedative, they were hopeful that Mike would quickly overcome that problem, too.

Now the pain was another story. Because of the internal bleeding, the infection, and eventually the second surgery, the area around the incision was slightly inflamed and extremely painful; even the painkillers didn't completely erase the lines of pain and discomfort from around Mike's mouth and eyes.

It was another two days before he was coherent enough to hold a conversation or to realize what had happened to him.

"I've gone through so many conversations with you in my head, while you were taking your long naps; but now that you're actually awake, I can't come up with anything. I hate you for that." Said Donna one afternoon as she sat by Mike's side, holding his hand.

"Huh?"

"Oh, please. Not back to '_huh_', again. You came out of it just this morning." She whined.

"I really don't know what you're talking about." Mike tried to be more articulate.

Rolling her eyes, she said, "I'm talking about the conversations I had in my head with you, over you keeping this" she pointed to Mike's side that was up against a pillow, "all to yourself. I'm talking about you doing what you did, in the first place. Mike... You're... You're unbelievable."

"You saying I shouldn't have done that?"

"Yes. No. I don't know." She sighed with frustration. "No, that's not what I mean; that was very noble of you to do it and to keep it from Harvey. But first of all, you gotta work on being a bit less nice; not around me of course, you can be nice around me all you want." She added with a smirk. "But seriously, you need to think of yourself, too."

Mike just rolled his eyes. "I do."

"Yeah, right." Donna snorted. Everyone who knew Mike, knew he rarely did things for himself; he was always thinking of someone else when he did things; his Grammy, Trevor, Jenny, Harvey, Donna, Rachel, a client; hell, a total stranger. He apparently couldn't help it. Shaking her head, she continued with her speech, "Whatever. Second thing is that you gotta work on your talking skills. OK, let's say I get why you didn't want Harvey to know; but why didn't you say anything to me, Mike? I could've been there for you. I _would've_ been there. You didn't have to go through everything alone. I'm sure it must've been hell and then you came back to work like 3 months early and kept working and... God, Mike I so wanna hit you right now." She was clearly distressed as she was going through the past few days in her head. "You scared me so much. Scared Harvey, too." She added quietly and then gently hugged Mike.

"I'm alright, Donna." Mike weakly tried to reassure the redhead.

"Yes and Louis just became the managing partner." Donna deadpanned. "You're not fine, Mike Ross, and this could've been easily prevented. What if I haven't found you? What if you've passed out at home and nobody knew where you were? You could've _died_."

"OK, what do you want me to say? Sorry? Because I'm not." Mike was really tired and not just _physically_.

"No." All the fight suddenly left Donna. "No, you have nothing to be sorry about. _We, _on the other hand..." She trailed off and sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't have your back; maybe if I had, you would've told me, huh?"

Mike shook his head. "You don't have anything to be sorry about, either, Donna. Harvey was a bastard to you, too."

"I was." Harvey's voice from the doorway startled them both and Mike winced at the sudden movement.

Donna stood up. "I gotta go get a real coffee. You-" she looked at Harvey, "behave. And you-" she turned back to look at Mike "Be your adorable self for now, Puppy. I'll be back." She kissed him on the cheek.

"You don't have to-"

"Shut up." Donna said firmly and smirked when Mike quickly closed his mouth. "Good boy." She smiled. "You've been alone long enough. Now it's time I smothered you with care. That's your punishment for ruining my reputation of knowing-everything."

Mike raised his eyebrows, but wisely kept quiet and watched as she left his room.

Harvey then walked in closer and sat down. "How're you feeling today?"

"I'm OK, I guess." Mike replied. "How's your brother?"

"Doing great. Thanks to you." Harvey answered just as curtly. He had no idea how to do this. "Listen, Mike. I'm sorry."

Mike bit his lip, but didn't say anything.

"About the things I said and the way I treated you. I would've eventually pulled my head out of my ass, but this did it for me." The older lawyer sighed. "The things I said to you during these past weeks... I... I'm especially sorry about what I said about Grammy. It was way out of line and the moment I said it I was regretting it. And then I pushed you... I swear I didn't mean to do that; and I had no idea you were... Well, normally that wouldn't have shaken you."

Mike nodded, knowing that Harvey was right, but it didn't mean he had the right to physically push him.

"I still shouldn't have done that." Harvey seemed to be thinking the same way. "I'm sorry and extremely thankful. I wish I knew so I could-"

"It's OK. Didn't want you to know." Mike sighed and before Harvey could open his mouth to say more, he said, "I'm not saying it's alright for you to act like a total douchbag for no reason; I know I haven't done anything wrong and yet you kept pushing my buttons. I don't know why you did it, maybe you were looking for a fight or something, but I could at least understand it was all because you were scared for your brother's health. What I _can't_ understand is why you were still a dick after he got the kidney."

Harvey nodded his head. "I've been asking myself the same question. The truth is, I seem unable to shake off the fear of losing Marcus. It's... It's-"

"Harvey." Mike called and his eyes were full of understanding. "I get it. I'm the one who recently lost the only person he had left in this world, remember?" His tone wasn't accusing; it seemed like he was just deeply sad about it.

Harvey cringed, remembering his own words about that fact. "And you never became a dick."

"I screwed up another way. We all have our own ways, I guess." Mike shrugged slightly.

"I'm just sorry, kid."

"Ok. Thanks." Mike nodded his head.

"I know I can't really make it up to you that easily." Harvey wasn't done and he quietly vowed that he'd be there and help Mike until the kid was back to perfectly healthy and then he'd keep a watchful eye to make sure nothing would jeopardize his health; unlike what he'd said, Mike wasn't alone. "And about what you did for my brother;" He added after a few seconds. "I can _never_ repay you for _that_. You didn't owe me anything that big, Mike. Why did you do that?"

"You see, that's why I didn't want you to know." Mike shook his head and closed his eyes briefly. "You don't owe me, Harvey. And I didn't do it because I felt I was in your debt; I know you don't like to use this particular word, but I did what I did because I saw a _friend_ in need and I could help out. I'd do it all over again if we went back in time. "

"Mike, paying someone's bills or lending them money is helping a friend out. Not giving up on your vital organs. Not going through so much pain and problem for them."

"Different ideas of the same thing. That's _your_ definition of friendship. This is mine. Deal with it." He said tiredly and shut his eyes. Why did Harvey have to make everything so difficult? Why couldn't he get that not everything was about Money or favors?

Harvey swallowed hard. "I don't deserve this much from you, Mike."

Mike opened his eyes and stared at the older man with disbelief; he'd never heard so much emotion in his voice; not even when he'd talked about his parents when they were both high. "Harvey; you're not one to decide about that. If someone values his friendship with you that much and thinks you deserve a break from all the worry and pain, then you just take it and say thanks. That's it."

It was times like this that showed Harvey how much Mike's hard life had affected and taught him and how growing up too fast had turned him into a man way wiser than his age. "Thank you." Harvey held Mike's gaze and poured all his gratitude in his eyes. He still wasn't over his guilt and he didn't think he'd ever be; like he didn't think he'd ever be able to really repay Mike for what he'd done for him and his brother, but at least now he'd learned a valuable lesson about friendship. A true friendship was something that he hadn't had for years, except for that of Donna's, and now he was thankful for having it back and especially when the friend was someone like Mike; one couldn't wish for a better friend. Really.

"You're welcome." Mike smiled warmly.

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**... The END ...**

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><p><strong>AN: OK, that's it; hope you've enjoyed this ride. Let me know what you think of this last chapter.**

**Thanks for all the comments, faves and alerts. They all mean a lot to me.**

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**All mistakes are mine.**

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